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May I ask how your "PM stainless" and "Super wear resistant" compare to R2 (which Tanaka and Mr. Itou are using)? I absolutely have nothing but good to say about it.

I have the pm stainless and I will say that I would be very impressed if the R2 in either can match it. It's significantly nicer than SG series, SRS-15, zdp-189, etc.). I'm testing the DT-super now. So far, I can say it is nice to sharpen (just two trials so far) but not quite as nice as other DT steels (takes a little more time) and it gets very sharp but the DT-pm is one of those steels that really "likes" to be sharp. It is probably my favorite steel so far and definitely my favorite stainless. I've tried out knives made from many steels but not R2. Sorry. After the DT-pm, I might choose Niolox or AEB-L.

Does it "hold an edge" is the question I get more than any other. In custom knives it has more interest than any other subject. I've heard lots of tall tales and exaggerations about this over the years.

Edge holding is the ability for a knife to keep cutting well in service. A properly sharpened knife will have a diameter of .4 micron at the edge. With use the diameter gets larger until it does not cut well, usually > 1 micron diameter at the edge. There is no reason to buy a custom knife unless it has excellent or superior edge holding.

Most steels come in the annealed condition and require hardening and tempering. Annealed steels have very low wear resistance which allows them to be worked easily. There are two things in properly heat treated steel that contribute to wear resistance. The first is the hardened matrix (martensite), and the second are the carbides. The amount of carbide volume, size, hardness, and distribution of the carbides all affect wear resistance and edge holding. Vanadium and tungsten carbides are harder than chrome and iron carbides. Steels with more carbides are more wear resistant than those with less. A certain amount of the carbide dissolves in hardening putting alloy and carbon in to the matrix making it hard and wear resistant.

Hardness affects edge holding. An increase of 2 points in Rockwell hardness will generally increase edge holding by about 20%. Improperly hardened and tempered blades having retained austenite (incomplete hardening) will be softer and not as wear resistant. Retained austenite also affects how much of a burr is formed and how easy it is to remove from a knife's edge while sharpening.

Lastly, the keener the edge the faster a knife will become dull. The coarser the stone used in sharpening, the longer it will hold that edge. I think that in general most knife nuts over sharpen.

To summarize, the proper selection of steels given the correct heat treatment along with correct sharpening will produce a knife with superior edge holding, give years of service, and will be a joy to use.